Wednesday, April 4   |  12:00 – 3:00 pm
IU School of Global and International Studies Atrium
355 N. Jordan Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405
Free and open to the public
Parking info: http://gisb.indiana.edu/about/access_parking.shtml

Watch Lotus Blossoms artist Radha Lakshmi create a stunning, large-scale mandala (kolam) in the main Atrium of the School of Global and International Studies building!  This work of art, based on traditions from Southern India, will come to life over a 3-hour demonstration — stop by to see the progress, or stay for the entire creative process.

An interdisciplinary artist, Radha Lakshmi’s contemporary works of art emerged from the ‘Feminine and Earth’ and women’s ritual arts from South of India. Radha graduated summa cum laude with a masters of fine art from the University of Wisconsin and magna cum laude with a bachelors of fine art from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Her span of experience and content reaches from the Folklore traditions of Southern India to the Indigenous Art of Northern Territory of Australia and  to traditional and contemporary printmaking.  Lakshmi currently lives in Cincinnati and teaches ‘Creating Sacred Spaces’ workshops through art and meditation for children and  adults.

“In Chennai, Southern India, where I grew up, women rose before dawn. It was their quiet time with the universe; free from their hectic schedule that they face during the day, women clean and draw geometrical rice powdered patterns on the ground at the entrances of their home,” Lakshmi says. “This traditional ritual of creating sacred patterns with rice powder or paste on walls or the ground is a tradition that has been passed down from mother to daughter for over two thousand years.”

Radha Lakshmi is brought to Lotus Blossoms in partnership with  IU Arts and Humanities Council/India Remixed Festival and the IU Eskenazi Museum of Art.